5ive Girls
Starring: Ron Perlman, Jennifer Miller
Written & Directed by: Warren P. Sonoda
Alex (Miller) is unceremoniously dumped at a Catholic style boarding school by her frustrated father. Her sin? She possesses the power of telekinesis. Inside she finds that she is one of only five students. An overbearing headmistress with black eyebrows and blond hair practically begins to abuse the students on sight. The fallen Father Drake(Perlman) teaches dead languages. Presumably, that is the only class offered at this school. The only other adult to be seen is a creepy caretaker.
Despite any snark above, 5ive Girls really is a decent watch. Sonoda offers his viewers an honest plot with interesting characters. Each character embodies the kind of horrible stereotype one would expect. There is a second layer beneath everyone, and the cast pulls off both aspects of their characters fairly well. Terra Vnesa makes her odd role as a blind, tarot reading anarchist work really well. Many CG effects are played for subtlety and look very nice for it.
Things only really go to hell in the third act. The story could have ended in many different but logical genres: supernatural drama or profane exploitation film being the two most obvious. Instead, it plays out with standard horror movie action. The characters are known, the plot is laid out, and the bloodbath commences. There is theistic Satanism, a good amount of blood and a little bit of nudity. Somehow, it just doesn’t work. Neither does Amy LaLonde as the headmistress.
5ive Girls is about one part indecent, cheesy up-all night horror viewing and two parts really good effort. People hoping for nudity and gore will be disappointed much of the first two acts. Enjoying the writer’s efforts may very well mean that “enduring” is the best word to describe watching the climactic end scenes. The movie tries to be so much that it’s hard to really pan or completely love the flick.
Perlman does what he does best: looking defeated as he struggles ever onward toward his salvation.
Weighted total: 6 of 10. Call it a lowbrow movie with too much plot or a smart movie that sank into mediocrity. It’s still kind of refreshing. As of this writing, Netflix has 5ive Girls available to stream as part of their basic service. Give it a watch.
